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JAN 17 1903 
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57th Congress, { SENATE. j Document 

1st Session, \ / (No. 403. 



WATERSHED OF THE RAINIER FOREST RESERVE, 
WASHINGTON. 



Mr. Turner presented the following 

SENATE PAPERS RELATING TO THE WATERSHED OF THE RAI- 
NIER FOREST RESERVE, IN THE STATE OF WASHINGTON, AS 
AFFECTED BY THE GRAZING OF SHEEP AND OTHER LIVE STOCK 
ON SUCH RESERVE. 



June 10, 1902. — Referred to the Committee on Public Lands and ordered to be printed. 



RESOLUTION OF THE YAKIMA COMMERCIAL CLUB, MARCH 4, 1902. 

Resolved, That the secretary of this club be instructed to address 
the honorable Secretary of the Interior of the United States, setting 
forth in his letter that it is the sense of the Commercial Club of North 
Yakima that the watershed of the Rainier Forest Reserve in the State 
of Washington is being materially and permanently injured by the 
grazing of sheep and other live stock on such reserve; that such injury 
has had and is having the effects of diminishing the flow of water in 
the streams which are being used for the purpose of irrigating the 
arid lands tributary to such streams, to the permanent injury of the 
agricultural interests of this section; and to petition the Secretary to 
prohibit the further grazing of sheep and other stock on the reserve; 
and be it 

Resolved, That this resolution shall not apply or refer to stock graz- 
ing on said reserve for or during the year 1902, which is not protested 
against. 

Adopted March 4. L902. 



Yakima Valley is one of the richest and most productive irrigated 
districts in the world. Government reports show there are L, 250,000 
acres of irrigable lands in the country. The county assessors' returns 
show less than 40,000 acres now irrigated; this amount is only a gar- 
den spot, compared to what may be brought into cultivation by high- 
line canals. 

The continual decrease in the water flow of these streams, having 
their sources on the eastern slope of the Cascades in the Rainier Forest 
Reserve, is causing a shortage of water in many places in Yakima Val- 
ley during the irrigating season, and this fact delays the building of 
higher line canals, upon which the future development of our county 
depends. 



2 WATERSHED <>K THE RAINIER FOREST RESERVE, WASHINGTON. 

The Yakima Husbandry Association, consisting of 200 members, 
which arc all farmers living along the eastern borders of Rainier For- 
est Reserve, and who use the waters of the different streams flowing 
out of this reserve, at a regular meeting held at North Yakima, Wash., 
on May 3, 1902, passed the following resolution: 

Whereas we, who have lived along these streamy ami used their water- fur the last 
twenty years to irrigate our /arms and are familiar with the mountains, note the 
destruction being done to the watershed on which this county depends tor irrigation ; 
therefore lie it 

Resolved, That it is the sense of this meeting that sheep grazing he prohibited on 
Rainier Forest Reserve after L902. 

Our reasons are that the grazing of large hands of slice]) tire destroy- 
ing native grasses and covering (Kir hillsides with their sharp hoof- 
prints while traveling and (dose cropping of grass while grazing. 

The sources of streams, that before these mountains were grazed by 
sheep, had their thick covering of moss, shrubbery, and other vegeta- 
tion, are now almost barren. Nothing left to hold back the melting- 
snow, the water conies down in early Hoods, thereby causing a short- 
age of water during the season when most needed. 

The report of Sydney Arnold, Government hydrographer, shows 
the estimated How of Yakima River for the month of June for the 
years LS97, 1898, L899, and 1900. The estimated How of ,l\u\>- 1. 1897, 
in cubic feet per second of time, was 14,030: in 1898, '.»,."»: 54- ; in 1899, 
11,030; in 1900, 3,390. 

The same authorities" report also shows a continual decrease in the 
water How of the .Natchez River, with exception of 1901, which shows 
a small increase, accounted for by the different months in which he 
took the measurement. 

The above tigures show conclusively that the water How in these 
streams is steadily decreasing. Those who were familiar with the 
conditions before sheep grazed these mountains, and know the condi- 
tions that exist there now. view with alarm the wanton destruction of 
the watershed of this reserve by slice]) grazing. 

The settlers who have lived along these streams and irrigated their 
farms for the last thirty years, know that the water How has been 
steadily diminishing during the last twelve years, and if sheep grazing 
is continued in the reserve, irrigation must soon cease in many places 
in Yakima County, thereby ruining hundreds of homes and farms. 

We believe Rainier Forest Reserve, with its timber and watershed. 
should be preserved for the benefit of agriculture and the good of the 
whole people, and not for a favored few. who are mostly transient 
residents and have no interest in the development of our country. 

We will quote from the report of the committee appointed by the 
National Academy of Sciences, upon the inauguration of a forest 
policy for the forest lands of the United States, to the Secretary of 
the Interior. May 1, 1897, which we heartily indorse as facts. On 
page 18 it says: 

Nomadic sheep husbandry has already damaged the mountain forests in those 
States and Territories where it has been largely practiced. Great bands of sheep 
often owned by foreigners who are temporary residents of this country, are driven 
in the spring into the high Sierras and Cascade ranges, feeding as they travel from 
the valleys at the foot of the mountains to the upper Alpine meadows. They carry 
desolation with them. Every blade of grass, the tender growing shoots of shrubs 
and seedling trees are eaten to the ground. The feet of these hoofed locusts cross- 
ing and recrossing the faces of the steep slopes tramp out plants that sheep do not 
relish, ami loosening the forest floors produce conditions favorable to floods. Their 



WATERSHED OF THE RAINIER FOREST RESERVE, WASHINGTON. 6 

destruction of the undergrowth of the forest and the sod of the Alpine meadows, 
hastens the melting of snow in the spring and quickens evaporation. 

The pasturage of sheep in mountain forests thus increases floods in early summer, 
■which carry away rapidly the water that under natural conditions would not reach 
the rivers until late in the season, when it is most needed for irrigation, and, by 
destroying the seedling trees on which permanency of the forest depends, prevent 
natural reproduction and therefore ultimately destroy the forests themselves. 

In Oregon and Washington the injury to the public domain by illegal pasturages 
is usually increased by the methods of the shepherds, who now penetrate to the 
highest and most inaccessible slopes and alpine meadows, wherever a blade of grass 
can ^row, and, before returning to the valleys below in the autumn, start fires to 
uncover the surface of the ground and stimulate the growth of herbage. 

Pasturage of sheep in the Sierras and Cascade forests, by preventing their repro- 
duction and increasing the number of tires, must inevitably so change the flow of 
streams heading in these mountains that they will become worthless for irrigation. 

Other parts of the country have suffered almost as seriously from the nomadic 
.sheep industry. Great flocks winter on the plains and sheltered canyons of the 
range country, and in spring, spreading out through eastern Oregon and Washing- 
ton, have destroyed the herbage of the valleys and threaten the forests on the moun- 
tain ranges. The actual loss this industry inflicts on the country annually is thousands 
of acres of burnt timber, and in ruined pasture lands is undoubtedly large, although 
insignificant in comparison with its effects on the future of mountain forests, the 
flow of streams, and the agricultural possibilities of their valleys. 

Grazing conditions in Yakima present the sad spectacle of a ruined 
public range, ami the agricultural interests are threatened by the rapid 
decrease in the water flow and destruction of the watershed. We 
will also quote from the report of Mr. Fred (i. Plummer, in the report 
of Mr. Henry Gannett, geographer, in the Twenty-first Annual Report 
of United States Geological Survey on Rainier Forest Reserve, where 
he calls attention to the humus in retarding surface drainage. 

On the eastern slope in the watershed of Yakima River the surface (low continues 
to feed the river for three months after winter rains anil snows are over. This is of 
immense importance in irrigation, it being estimated that a fall of 1 foot in this river 
affects 300,000 acres of land". 

We wish to call attention to the fact that this humus is what the 
sheep destroy, and a fall of 1 foot in the river will be quickly brought 
on by continued sheep grazing. Within the borders of Rainier Forest 
Reserve are all the tributary streams and sources of the Natches and 
Tietan rivers, upon which hundreds of farms are dependent for irri- 
gation. Thousands of unoccupied acres of the best agricultural lands 
adjacent to North Yakima are awaiting the higher line canals to bring 
these waters to them, which will add hundreds of additional homes for 
our people. We see the reckless destruction being done to the water- 
shed of Rainier Forest Reserve by sheep grazing; the total indiffer- 
ence shown by the officials in charge of this reserve in this State, who 
have never made the sheep herders obey the rules laid down by the 
Department governing the grazing of sheep, but they allow them to 
roam at will and continue their wanton destruction. 

While the Department at Washington. D. C, may think that by 
limited grazing of sheep under careful restrictions no permanent injury 
will be done to the timber and watertiow. this is unquestionably a 
mistake, for wherever sheep graze it is a notorious fact that they 
destroy all native grasses and other vegetation, and it is next to impos- 
sible to regulate or restrict them, as the majority of sheep owners are 
only temporary residents and migratory inhabitants showing no interest 
in the preservation of the forests and watertiow, or the development of 
the country; they are here to-day and there to-morrow. 

Therefore we feel that the future welfare of Yakima Valley demands 



4 WATERSHED OF THE RAINIER FOREST RESERVE, WASHINGTON. 

that sheep grazing be prohibited on Rainier Forest Reserve; that the 
reserve he enlarged at the headwaters of the smaller streams and alone- 
its eastern borders, and extended on the north to connect with the 
Washington Reserve, thereby including the entire watershed of Yakima 
River, thus forever protecting these waters for the use of irrigation 
for the people. This is the only salvation for Kittitas and Yakima 
valleys. We ask the Government not to allow it to be destroyed, that 
a migratory class of sheep owners may enrich themselves by robbing 
posterity of its inheritance. 

Daniel Sinclair. President. 

E. B. Makes. Secretary. 



North Yakima. Wash., April 28, 1902. 

Dear Sir: L have the honor to transmit herewith copy of article 
prepared by me and published in the Seattle Times. November 9, 1901, 
giving full report of the Rainier Forest Reserve question. 

The men interviewed were the leading citizens of the country in 
which the water is diminishing annually. They are ready to make 
oaths to the facts as set forth in that article if necessary. 

I send you this, as 1 have heard from J. D. Medill that you were 
desirous of getting some data on the Ranier Forest Reserve controversy. 
The matter was taken up by me some months ago, and several news 
articles were prepared for papers for which I was correspondent. 

I sent all the clippings and what information I had gleaned to the 
Secretary of the Interior, who acknowledged receipt, and stated in the 
many letters that they had been referred to the Commissioner of 
Public Lands. 

When the matter came up for consideration I am informed that it 
was represented that I had prepared the petitions (which was correct), 
and that I was only a newspaper correspondent (which was correct). 
I am proud of the fact that I am a newspaper correspondent, and wish 
to state right here that I would not exchange positions with any sheep 
man or his political protectors in the whole world. Money making at 
the expense of the people never was considered a laudible ambition 
with me; hence I have not so much wealth as some political parasites, 
but I am an American citizen, and have a perfect right to petition any 
power in the United States when I see the people trampled upon by 
protected foreign corporations. 

I have no connection with the cattle men; never attended a meeting; 
never have been given a postage stamp or assurance of anything in 
any shape, manner, or form. It is not a tight between sheep men and 
stockmen, but a tight of the people for their homes and farms. Not 
one man has even donated a stamp for my work, and I never have 
asked anyone for assistance. Iain not a paid lobbyist in any sense. 
I alone am the man who has prepared the articles and sent to the 
Secretary of the Interior, and did it solely in the interest of the people, 
without even consulting any class of individuals. 1 own my home. 
which is more than many sheep men do. 

Since my writings have been published the Yakima Husbandry 
Association has been organized for the purpose of trying to get the 
forest reserve protected. These men are not cattle men, but farmers, 
who are interested in preserving their homes. 



WATERSHED OF THE RAINIER FOREST RESERVE, WASHINGTON". 5 

In politics I am a Republican (or always have been in the past); have 
edited Republican newspapers and was for a long time agricultural 
editor of the Irrigation Age. I have seen the hum buggery of this for- 
est reserve business, and have attempted to inform the proper officials. 
with the result that I am dubbed "an agitator and dangerous man." 
I have no political aspirations and do not attend caucuses of any 
nature. At the present time I have no politics except that of the 
people. 

The fact has been established beyond any question of doubt that 
sheep injure the forest reserve. It has also been shown, by the report 
of the Government hvdrographer, that the water has decreased over 
one-half. The testimony of scores of old farmers can be added to this. 
Yet, in the face of the whole thing, Republicans, with Congressman 
Jones at the lead, say that the forests are not injured by sheep graz- 
ing, and the matter will have to be settled by experts. 

An expert is regarded here as a sheep pimp. They come here and 
arc met by sheepmen, entertained by sheepmen, and stuffed with the 
water subject by sheepmen. I attempted for nearly one whole day to 
have an interview with Coville when he was here, but the sheepmen 
kept him away from everybody not favorable to that industry. A. J. 
Splawn had a short talk in the Hotel Yakima with Coville, and left 
him to a half dozen sheepmen. I was trying to catch him. and heard 
the sheepmen telling him that Splawn was an -agitator and cattleman, 
interested only on the range for himself. 

The whole thing is a perfect farce and humbug from start to finish. 
Rangers are employed by the Government, at from $60 to $90 per 
month, to watch the country allotted free to sheepmen, and keep 
away farmers' stock. R. K. Nichols, the supervisor, even asked per- 
mission to impound farmers' stock. found on the reserve- the people's 
heritage. 

Even if the watershed was not being destroyed, why should a lot of 
sheepmen be given free range on the property of the people to grow 
Government-made mutton and Government-made wool, to ship East 
in competition with farmers who raise slice]) and wool on lands cost- 
ing them $100 an acre '. 

The Western Congressmen and Senators are asking national aid for 
building reservoirs and putting dangerous devices in the canyons to 
break and destroy the lands below, when all the people want or need 
is the protection of the natural forests. If you sift the irrigation bills 
to the bottom you will find they are mere subterfuges to hide the 
real fact that the entire irrigated West is being destroyed by the free 
grazing of nearly 25,000,000 highly protected sheep owned generally 
by foreign syndicates and wealthy barons who care nothing for farmers 
or their water supply. 

Please excuse me for this long sermon on the Cascade Mount, but I 
have investigated it so thoroughly for the past fifteen years in this and 
other States, that I find it the greatest humbug ever perpetrated on 
the American people to give all the Western watersheds over to the 
sheepmen for complete destruction and then ask the Government for 
aid to build enigmatical reservoirs which are nothing but makeshift 
failures. 

I hope you will continue to assist the people as you have been doing 
and hope to meet you sometime so that you may become personally 
acquainted with that •'newspaper correspondent, dangerous man. and 



(i WATERSHED OF THE RAINIER FOREST RESERVE, WASHINGTON. 

agitator," which my very dear Republican friends have the audacity 
to honor me in giving me such distinguished titles. 
Most respectfully, yours, 

Joel Shomaker. 
Hon. George Turner, 

Washington. I >. < '. 



The Rainier Forest Reserve is being denuded of vegetation, and the 
water supply of the eastern slope of the Cascades is diminishing annu- 
ally through sheep grazing. Five hundred fanners residing on the 
( \>u iehe. Atahnani. and Wenas creeks have entered protests against the 
destruction of their homes and farms. Petitions have been sent to 
the Secretary of the Interior, asking for relief and the closing of 
the forest reserve against sheep grazing. The actual home builders 
of the entire county of Yakima are indignant over the continued 
action of those who should be forest reserve protectors. One quar- 
ter million head of .sheep have been given free pasturage on the reserve 
for three months during the year, and rangers have been employed to 
keep farmers from trespassing on the lands allotted to shepherds. 

The Rainier Forest Reserve includes a large area of the Cascades in 
central Washington. The eastern slopes are the headwaters of many 
streams supplying water for irrigating Yakima Valley. By a wise 
order from Congress the country occupied was set apart by Grover 
Cleveland as a heritage for the people. Fifty-two such reserves have 
been created, and it is reported that of that number only three are 
used for private herding grounds of sheepmen. In California. Utah, 
Colorado, and other irrigated districts, forest supervisors have 
excluded sheep from all sections of the forest reserve where the 
mountains are the headwaters for irrigating streams. In the manage- 
ment of the Rainier Reserve the opposite course is pursued. Sheep are 
given the eastern slopes, where they can and do destroy the watershed, 
and are kept oil the western section, where water is not needed for t he 
purpose of irrigating the lands. 

Yakima Valley comprises one of the richest and most productive 
irrigated districts of the world. The Government reports show that 
there are 1,250,000 acres of irrigable lands in the county. The county 
assessors' returns indicate that only -±5,39S acres have been tilled and 
improved. Of this area at least 15,000 acres are used for wheat lands 
in the Horse Heaven country, and not irrigated. The irrigated fields 
upon which water is applied from canals and artesian wells do not 
exceed 40,000 acres, and. judging from the assessors* books, are even 
less than 30,000 acres. In this irrigated belt are approximately 17,000 
people, dependent entirely on agricultural products that can be grown 
only by the aid of irrigation. The average rainfall is less than 8 inches 
annually, and the moisture is not sufficient without artificial irrigation 
to produce any of the fruits or cereals for which Yakima is noted. 

A quarter of a century ago the streams flowing through the Yakima 
Valley were bank full of water all the year. The high waters of sum- 
mer came during the first two weeks in July, and then the rise of 
rivers and creeks was gradual. In 1886 and 1887 several large bands 
of sheep were driven in by strangers and grazed on the eastern slope 
of the Cascades. During these years the country was burned over. 



WATERSHED OF THE RAINIER FOREST RESERVE, WASHINGTON". ( 

and forest tires were visible everywhere. Some of the fires, it is 
alleged, were kindled for the purpose of burning off the country for 
ranges the following year. Other tires came from the desire to destroy 
the range to prevent others coming in. In many places the fires were 
permitted to rage through the forests from actual carelessness. The 
country was burned over and made desolate. Vegetation and timber 
were destroyed, and the snow left the mountains so quickly in L889 
that some of the streams were perfectly dry throughout the summer 
months. 

Since the beginning of sheep grazing and the consequent natural 
destruction of the grasses, small trees, and the burning of the forest, 
the water supply has diminished until litigation has ensued, some lands 
have been deserted, and the homes of the people have been in danger. 
The water supply is befouled by careless bedding of sheep, the throwing 
in of dead carcasses, and the washings from the mountain slopes into 
the streams carrying water to the farmers below. Many of the most 
dreaded diseases in other lands are attributed to these results of sheep 
grazing, and the residents of the valleys near the Cascade Mountains 
believe that the health of their families is endangered by the use of 
such water for culinary purposes. The decrease of water has been so 
noticeable that two canal companies have forces of men employed in 
sinking the head gates of their canals and building dams across the 
river Naches in order that any water can be obtained next year. 

The Yakima Republic published under date of dune Lo, 1900, the 
following statement, taken from the report of the Government 
hydrographer: 

Sydney Arnold, Government hydrographer, has prepared a comparative statement 
showing the estimated flow of the Yakima River for the month of June in the years 
L897-1899 and a part of this month. There is a suggestive disparity in the Hew of 
the present June 1 and the same day for the previous years. The estimated flow on 
June 1. 1897, was in cubic feet, per second or second-feet, about 50 California miners' 
inches; was in 1897, 14,030; in 1898,9,534; in 1899, 11,030, and in 1900 only 3,390. On 
the 7th day of June it was only a flow of 4,351 cubic feet per second, and Mr. Arnold 
believes there will be but little additional rise owing to the absence of snow in the 
mountains. There is food for reflection in these figures, and storage reservoirs may 
in time heroine a general necessity. 

The farmers of the Wenas, Cowiche, and Atahnam valleys became 
alarmed at the rapidly decreasing supply of water for irrigating pur- 
poses every year. Those having prior claims to appropriat ions sought 
the protection of the courts, and general litigation ensued. In former 
years, before the country was burned over and the grasses destroyed. 
the water came gradually into the streams and increased in How until 
the middle of duly. During the past few years the snow has melted 
so quickly, because of no shade or protection, as to send down the 
high waters in April and May. and last spring the freshets were in 
.March. When a warm day comes in January the snow melts and 
swells the streams, because there is nothing left to hold back the 
moisture. The conditions became so alarming that in May. 1901, the 
following petition was forwarded to the Secretary of the Interior: 

We, the undersigned farmers, property owners, citizens, and voters of Yakima 
County. Wash., hereby request that the Secretary of the Interior prohibit sheep 
grazing on the Rainier Forest Reserve, at the headwaters of the Cowiche, Atahnam, 
and Wenas creeks. Our reasons for asking this are that the range is being destroyed 
by sheep grazing, and the actual settlers arc robbed of the privileges that should be 
theirs — of feeding their stock on the Government range contiguous to their farms; 
the watershed is being denuded, so that the snow is melted away in early spring and 



8 WATERSHED OF THE RAINIER FOREST RESERVE, WASHINGTON". 

the water supply is short during the summer months, when must needed, and the 
litigation over water rights is very burdensome to the people. These conditions 
have been increasing every year since sheep grazing was permitted on the Cascade 
Mountains, ami have become alarming to our people. The sheep pull upand destroy 
the arid grasses and lay waste the entire country wherever they are permitted to 
graze. 

We further ask that the proposed opening of two townships on the Rainier Forest 
Reserve for settlement be not permitted, as tin- lands are situated at the heads of 
the streams used below for irrigation purposes, and there is practically no agri- 
cultural lands that may be used as homesteads. The people need the entire benefits 
of the reserve as a natural water preserver. Our farming lands are utterly worthless 
without plenty of water for irrigation purposes. The forest reserve, if properly 
preserved, is sufficient to give all the reservoirs Ave need, and we insist upon this 
being held as sacred ground, for the benefit of the actual settlers making their homes 
on the streams fed by the snows of this reserve. 

For the relief, as above mentioned, we, your petitioners will ever pray. 

The petition was signed by 95 }>or cent of the actual settlers living 
on the Co'wiche Creek; ( .»7 per cent of those living on the Abtanum, 
and To per cent of the fanners of the Wenas Valley. Nantes were 
appended without any political significance, and Republicans and 
Democrats joined in the effort to save their homes front destruction. 
To make the petitions more secure affidavits were made by well-known 
residents of each district to the effect thai the signatures were genuine 
and the people were bona tide residents of those valleys. The papers 
were sent to Washington, but no action was taken on them and no 
acknowledgment of their tiling was received by the senders. It is 
now alleged that one of. the officials from this State guaranteed, in pay- 
ment of a political debt, that the petitions should be pigeonholed and 
not acted upon by the Department. 

In response to inquiries made in Washington, The Times corre- 
spondent is informed that after due investigation permits were given 
for the sheep grazing on the Rainier Forest Reserve in May. L901. 
The report of R. K. Nichols, of this city, a deputy supervisor of the 
Rainier Reserve, is to the effect that 257,000 sheep. 5.652 cattle, and 
240 horses were grazed during the season which closed October 1, 1901. 
There were si leases made to sheepmen last May and 62 made to 
owners of horses and cattle. The sheepmen represent temporary 
rangers, and the horse and cattle men arc actual farmers, residing in 
Yakima County. Applications for cattle ranges are made by men 
owning from 5 to 450 head, the majority being farmers with less than 
50 head of stock. If proper investigations had been made the super- 
visors would have discovered that the real farmers were never con- 
sulted as to t\w denuding of the forests or destruction of the range. 

Frederick V. Coville, an expert from the Department of Agricul- 
ture, recently made a tour of investigation through this county for 
the alleged purpo.se of learning facts concerning grazing conditions. 
He was met at the Hotel Yakima by a delegation of sheepmen, who 
gave him the desired information. The Times correspondent attempted 
to interview him, but he was spirited away by the secretary of the 
woolgrowers' association and kept until night in looking over the 
artesian wells of the Moxee. At night he was taken into the country 
with the president of the woolgrowers and kept until time to take the 
train for other fields. Several farmers attempted to get a glimpse of 
the man who ,vas from the Department of Agriculture, but he was in 
ambush. I. A. McCrum, of Portland, is an officer in charge of the 
forest reserve. He came here several months ago and announced that 
he intended inspecting the Rainier Forest Reserve. The snow was 



WATERSHED OF THE RAINIER FOREST RESERVE, WASHINGTON. 9 

perhaps 6 feet on the reserve and he returned, after a consultation with 
.sheepmen. Thus the evil effects of sheep grazing have been duly 
inspected and reported to the Secretary of the Interior. 

The Times has been making some investigations of the forest-reserve 
conditions and the effects of sheep grazing on the farmers of Yakima 
Valley. For that purpose a number of the oldest and most respected 
citizens have been interviewed by a special representative. They are 
selected among the many because of their varied interests and differ- 
ing politics. The statements made by these men can be continued by 
many hundreds of representative farmers, fruit growers, hop ranchers, 
and others engaged in respectable business in the county of Yakima. 
Their experiences extend over a period of thirty years and must be of 
value in reporting on the conditions of the forest reserve. 

A. J. Lewis is one of the oldest farmers on the Cowiche Creek. He 
says: 

I have resided in tins county for twenty-six years and have the same opinion now 
that I have always entertained. Sheep grazing is ruining the country, spoiling the 
watershed, and creating disease. The sheep kill the grass so that it never comes 
again. Horses and cattle bite off the grass and it comes out again. The water sup- 
ply is failing every year and is getting lighter all the time. The high waters come 
much earlier every spring. There is more of it at a timeand it gets away (pucker. I 
do not believe that the ( !owiche will ever lie entirely deserted by farmers, lint if the 
present conditions keep up for a few years the working people those who depend 
on their farms for a living — will have to leave. I am not engaged in the range busi- 
ness and have neither cattle nor sheep to feed on the Government land. They say 
that we need the taxes of the sheepmen. If the present condition is kept up there 
will not he grass or water- for the sheepmen or farmer. Let us protect the watershed. 

W. G. Griffiths has been a resident of the Ahtanum since ls7!>. 
Ho says: 

During my residence of twenty-two years on the Ahtanum and Cowiche creeks I 
have noticed that the water has diminished and the high periods have come much 
earlier. Ten or fifteen years ago we had plenty of forest fires. The whole country 
seemed to he on tire. We hail very irw tires this year because there was nothing to 
burn. The whole country has been burned over and timber destroyed. The only 
thing there is to keep back the snow in the mountains is the cold, backward spring. 
If we have a warm day in March the water comes down and there is none left for 
summer. Three days ago 1 went over the mountains to Louis Christensen's ranch at 
the head of the Cowiche and never saw a sprig of hunch grass. The country is now 
entirely barren, where ten years ago it was covered with plenty of grass. My opin- 
ion is that the forest reserve will soon he destroyed if present conditions are kept 
up. 1 think the reserve should he extended down the mountain for 10 miles, and 
then protected from sheep grazing. 

J. J. Wiley h:ts been engaged in general farming and stock raising 
on the Ahtanum for the past twenty years. He says: 

My father homesteaded on the Ahtanum over thirty years ago. I was raised there 
and have been engaged in farming and stock raising for nearly a quarterof a century, 
hast year we took a hand of 800 stock into the Okonogan country, because the 
Rainier Forest Reserve was so nearly exhausted that there was no feed left. I can 
take a man who wants to see the effects of sheep grazing and show him where we 
formerly wallowed in grass there is nothing at present hut dry sand, the country 
being perfectly bare and worthless. Where once there was plenty of hunch grass 
the country is now bare and nothing can live on the desolate range. We never had 
any trouble over the water until 1889, two years after the country was burned over 
by forest fires and the grass was killed out by sheep grazing. Where there was in 
former years great snow banks in July the snow is now gone in April. The Ahtanum 
is probably the worst sufferer from such grazing, as it is a short stream and the head 
watei's are not very high up in the Cascades. There should he greater efforts made 
to preserve the water supply on this stream because of the short course it runs. 
Reservoirs, about which some people delight to talk, are not practicable on the head 
watersof the Wenas, Ahtanum, or Cowiche. 1 know this because I tramped all over 



10 WATERSHED OF THE RAINIER FOREST RESERVE, WASHINGTON. 

the country a few years ago as a guide for William Ham Hall, the noted California 
irrigation engineer. We were Looking for sites for reservoirs for the Sunnyside Canal 
people and could not find any at the head of these streams. Reservoirs are not 
practicable and the only way to get water is to protect the forest reserve. 

P. L. Zirkle has made his home on the Cowiche Creek for the past 
eight years. He says: 

Eight years ago 1 bought 182 acres of land from "Uncle George Taylor." We 
investigated the water supply in August and found there was an abundance. At 
that time there was at least LOO miners' inches flowing by my place. Since then the 
water decreased until there is absolutely none within 5 miles of my place in August. 
Mr. Taylor saw the way the water had decreased and that my land was not worth 
what it was supposed to have been at the time of our contract, and he deducted 
$1,200 from the principal and at least $1,000 from the interest, a- he did not wish to 
cheat me in the deal. 1 am a comparatively new man on the creek, but I do know 
that the water supply has been failing every \ ear since I purchased my land. 

V. D. Hitter has been a resident of the Wenas Valley for twenty- 
two years, and is engaged in general fanning. He says: 

In June. 1884, we put a dam in the Wenas ( 'reek and took out a ditch for irrigating 
purposes. At that time there was an abundance of water. We could swim a horse 
in the creek and spare water for everybody. Now the court has ordered that we 
stop using water in June as then' i- not enough for the first appropriators. Ten 
years ago the headwaters of the Wenas were covered with a dense growth of timber; 
now it is a dry burn. The country was then covered with grass and sunflowers; now 
it is barren and worthless. We have our high waters early in the spring, and have 
even a rise in the creek in January, due to the barrenness of the country. A few 
years ago a sheep man was two hours in passing through a small basin in the Wenas 
because of the high grass making it difficult for his sheep to get through. Now it is 
a dry, barren spot, covered only with sand and perfectly worthless. A few years 
ml'ii 1 camped for two weeks at the head of the Wenas, in the Cascades, and saw 
plenty of game, including four bear and some deer. This year 1 camped at the same 
place and saw nothing. The country is so eaten out and destroyed that game can 
not live. This is due to sheep grazing. 

H. D. Winchester has been a resident of Yakima County since L883. 
He says: 

I have neither sheep nor cattle ami am in no way interested in t lie grazing question 
of the forest reserve. 1 aminterested in the water supply, however, and can say this: 

If yon want to destroy the watershed entirely, let the same course of sheep grazing 
be continued for the next ten years, and there will be no water for the use of anyone. 
I have traveled a great deal in the mountains and have seen the forest tires anil the 
effects of sheep grazing. 

Matt Stanton is one of the oldest and most respected citizens of 
Yakima, lie came to the valley in L8B9 and has witnessed all the 
changes of water and forest reserve. He says: 

When I first came here 1 spent much of the time in the mountains. There was 
plenty of water for all purposes and to irrigate the entire county. The high waters 
came'down into the valleys then about July 1 to 15, just at the time when a good 
supply was most needed'. In L886-87 the sheepmen came into the country and 
burned off the timber. Since then the high waters have come in April and May, 
when not needed for irrigation purposes. This year the high water came the last 
week in March, and the water ran away before the people could use it. The under- 
brush of the mountains is all goneand there is nothing to hold the moisture. 1 want 
to predict that if this sheep grazing is not stopped, in ten years there will not beany 
farmers in the Wenas, Cowiche, or Ahtanum valley. 

d. F. Marks has been a resident of the Ahtanum Valley for thirty 
years and is known as one of the respected citizens, lie says: 

1 have been a resident of this valley thirty years the loth of last July. I have 
traveled back and forth over the mountains of' eastern Washington and have trav- 
eled over the mountains of Washington, [daho, and Oregon in the past forty-eight 
years. Have been a farmer all the time, and raise grain, hay, cattle, dairy cows 



WATERSHED OF THE RAINIER FOREST RESERVE. WASHINGTON. 11 

and pigs, and fruits. During the period of from 187] to 1887-88 the streams of the 
Yakima Valley ran bank full from early spring until the last of July, and there was 
plenty of water the remainder of the year. Since 1888 the streams have been decreas- 
ing in the flow of water. During the years from 1871 to L888 I had to swim the 
Ahtanum River on horseback to cross the stream: now it is quite different. Both 
the Yakima and Natches rivers flow less every year. I predict that when the avail- 
able lands of the Yakima and tributary streams are irrigated, the channel of that big 
stream will be as dry at l'rosser as the streets of North Yakima, and the country will 
have more typhoid fever than it can stand. Yet in the face of these conditions it 
seems strange that some people who claim to lie citizens will say that there was more 
water in the Yakima Valley streams this year than ever before. The natural suppo- 
sition is that such statements must emanate from selfish motives. Men who make 
these statements know that the decrease of water supply is due to the destruction of 
the watershed of the eastern slope of the Cascades done by sheep grazing and burn- 
ing the timber. 

The sheepmen say there were no fires in the mountains during the past summer. 
The reason for this is that there are very few bodies of timber left that can We burnt, and 
every man who has ever investigated trte matter knows the sentiment of the farmers on 
the proposition. Any man who has taken special notice of sheep ranges can see 
and does see that all the moss ami fine leaves and litter on the ground that formerly 
formed a coating and held water and snow back until late in the summer, has been 
tramped to dust or lays in windrows like a hayrake had been worked on it. The 
springs have gone dry every summer since these conditions have existed, and the 
brush thickets and small groves around the springs are dead. I ask where will the 
million population that the Yakima country could support in good health, with all 
the blessings it was once endowed with and then protected, turn to when they are 
all destroyed and the country becomes a sickly barren waste? The Yakima country 
must be irrigated or it is worthless, and unless we protect and improve our water- 
shed the water will fail entirely. 

The <_ r rass range in the mountains is of secondary consideration to farming and cat- 
tle raising, for without water we can not raise feed for winter use. Egypt is a desert 
country by reason of the natural blessings of that country being destroyed. The 
Arabian countries and a large part of Russia charge most of their desert conditions 
to the destruction of the forests and grasses, and Germany is spending millions of 
dollars every year in reforesting. 

The timber supply in Yakima and Kittitas counties is a matter of grave concern to 
the people. From 1870 to 1885 we thought there was an ample supply on the hills 
adjacent to the valleys, but since that time all the best of it has been swept away by 
tire, and sheep herding on the land prevents the young trees from growing or even 
sprouting. There is no chance to grow uporimprove a forest while sheep are grazed 
where the timber should grow, 

Hon. A. J. Splawn, member of the State fair commission, is one 
of the oldest and most respected residents of Yakima Count} 7 . He 
says to tin- Times correspondent: 

I am a resident of Cowiche Valley and am familiar with the Rainier Forest Reserve. 
I know the conditions existing before the reserve was created and know the present 
conditions. The setting apart of this mountainous region as a reserve was one of the 
wise things done by our Government, for without this watershed Yakima County 
would be a barren waste. Those living along the smaller streams are even now face 
to face with the fact — a shortage of water for irrigation. The same condition applies 
to larger streams, though not so noticeable at present. Those using water from the 
Yakima and Natches rivers have lor several years past run their wing dams further 
out in the stream to get water into their ditches, where formerly they had only to 
open their headgates and the water rushed in. People who have not been here long 
do not know that every year for the past ten the water has been decreasing, but 
such is true. Having lived in this county for the last forty years, I know of what I 
speak. It is time the people were awakening to the danger that threatens their 
watershed. 

What has brought about this sad state of affairs? The grazing of sheep on the 
Rainier forest reserve winch was set apart for the protection of timber and our water- 
shed. Why should this be permitted year after year, and a few sheepmen, very few 
of whom have any homes or farms in our county, or are identified with any enter- 
prise, or assist in any way in upbuilding the country, be allowed to cause this destruc- 
tion, which will render valueless thousands of homes and farms? How much longe] 
will the Secretary of the Interior be deceived by officials in charge of this reserve? 
Let us hope no longer. 

What were the conditions before this was set apart as a reserve? the mountains 



12 watebshed <<f the rainier forest reserve, Washington. 

and hillsides were covered with timber and native grasses, the sources of the streams, 
which have a basin-like formation, were covered with a thick carpet of grass, moss, 
and other vegetation, which held hack the water. Alas, the change. Now those 
same mountains and hillsides are barren of grasses, the reserve is being grazed to 
death, and its water supply is diminishing year by year. Sheep grazing is killing 
the native grasses by eating and trampling them out by the roots, while the grazing 
in the forest kills thousands of young trees. 

The mountain slopes present a sad spectacle, completely tramped out, and for 
miles can only he seen the sheep trails, leaving the hare hillsides. The consequence 
is a sudden melting of the snow, the water rushes down, causing floods instead of 
furnishing a gradual and steady water supply during the irrigating season. 

But few places on the Rainier Forest Reserve can one find grass sufficient for a sad- 
dle horse save perhaps where some sheep herder has guarded a sacred spot for his 
own horses, hut before leaving camp he grazed that off also. 

One thing is very noticeable. Instructions from the Interior Department plainly 
state that sheep must not be corralled within 500 yards of living springs or running 
water. This part is completely ignored and sheep herders make a practice of bedding 
their sheep on these spots. D. B. Shellar, superintendent of the reserve, was asked 
by sheepmen regarding this particular clause of instructions, and he said. "The 
instructions read not to corral, which does not imply that you can not bed your sheep 
there." This hint was sufficient. 

Some of our local papers state that the grazing season has ended very satisfactorily 
and farmers have no complaints. Allow me to say that those editors are not look- 
ing for facts or they are willfully misrepresenting the situation, for 95 per cent of the 
actual settlers living on the Cowiche Creek, '.'7 percent living on the Ahtanum, and 
about 70 per cent living on the Wenas Creek — those streams having their sources in 
the Rainier Forest Reserve — have signed petitions to the Secretary of the Interior 
asking that sheep grazing be no longer allowed al the source of these streams. To 
these petitions are affixed about 500 names and all live in the immediate vicinity of 
North Yakima, the farthest not more than '_'() miles away. 

I notice in the report of Supervisor I!. K. Nichols that he recommends the taking up 
and selling of est ray sfo k that may he found on t he Rainier Forest Reserve. Surely 
Mr. Nichols is ready lor empire. For monumental nerve and gall that proposition 
stands unparalleled. Surely the American people have not lost their rights. I sin- 
cerely hope his recommendations will not be considered, for he would allow 30 or 
4() sheep owners to totally destroy the whole forest reserve and close his eves to facts 
that he should report to the ( rovernment; but he would he on the alert for anything 
out of line from some poor farmer who cannot pasture his stock ami turns them 
on the public domain and by chance they should stray on the reserve. Let us look 
for justice and fair dealing from a higher authority! 

In the face of all the facts submitted, and many more evidences that 
conic from every disinterested farmer, fruiter, hop grower, gardener, 
antl other agriculturist who has investigated the forest reserve and 
water supply, the Government officials report thai sheep do not injure 
the reserve! D. P. Shellar and K. K. Nichols, who have the reserve 
in charge, have been highly praised by the sheep men in a set of com- 
plimentary resolutions for their efforts in behalf of that class of 
reserve grazers, but the farmers have never consented to such state- 
ments that the reserve has been handled satisfactorily. It is generally 
considered as one of the worst political humbugsever perpetrated upon 
the people of Yakima County to permit politicians to lease out the 
forest reserve, free of rental, to a favored few. and permit them to 
destroy the watershed and ruin the country. 

The farmers tire led to believe that the reserve is conducted as a 
political machine for a favored few by the bud that the petitions have 
never been acted upon and no effort litis been made to remedy the 
evils which threaten to depopulate Yakima Valley, which should be 
one of the richest agricultural sections of the world. 

Congressman W. L. Jones, to whom the matter was referred, last 
May, on his return from Washington, was interviewed for the Yakima 
Republic, and has this to say: 

With regard to the discussion over injury to the forest reserve through stock 
grazing I would sav that I had heard nothing of the matter until I was within a 



WATERSHED OF THE RAINIER FOREST RESERVE, WASHINGTON. 13 

short distance of home. In Washington the Department seems to be well satisfied 
with the experience of previous years and the reports of its inspectors and Super- 
visor Shellar. Of course, whether the water supply is endangered is a question of 
fact to be determined solely l>y engineers and specialists from Washington. As I 
say thf Department seems to be of the opinion that the present restrictions are 
sufficient to insure protection of the watershed. 

The people who have resided here for the past quarter of a century 
and witnessed the decrease of water, the abandoning of lands because 
of the loss of water, the denuding and devastation of the country by 
sheep grazing and forest tires know more about actual conditions than 
experts sent from Washington. When engineers and experts come 
here and talk to sheep men they naturally learn all about the water- 
shed and the destruction of grasses on the forest reserve. When they 
come in the winter and inspect the reserve from the office of the sheep 
men's literary apostle. Col. L. S. Howlett. it is natural to suppose 
they see the effects of grazing 6 feet under the snow and 50 miles away 
from the reserve. In the minds of 85 per cent of the home builders 
of Yakima County the subject is one of grave importance, and they are 
united, regardless of political faith, in their efforts to protect their 
homes and properties from invading shepherds. 

The sheep industry should be an adjunct to agriculture, and farmers 
should be the sheep men of central Washington. At the present no 
farmer is engaged in the industry, and the range grazing is inimical 
to his business. It is reported that an addition of twenty or more for- 
eign sheep owners has been made to the already too large number at 
Prosser, expecting to use the Government reserve and its ranges for 
protection next year. A great danger overshadows the farmers, and 
it is a question whether Yakima shall become a desert waste in a few 
years or remain the greatest agricultural and horticultural irrigated 
district in the world. If sheep grazing continues the farmers will be 
compelled to leave their homes for want of water to grow crops. The 
people are looking to their Congressmen and State Senators for relief 
and to the Government for protection to their homes and families. 

Joel Shomaker. 



North Yakima, Wash.. May 29, 1902. 

Dear Sir: Relative to the agitation in regard to the matter of 
excluding sheep and cattle from the Rainier Forest Reserve on account 
of the damage done by grazing, I wish to state that in my opinion and 
in that of all disinterested persons there is no doubt whatever I hat the 
water shed is materially and permanently injured by such grazing, due 
to the destruction of vegetation and underbrush, and that the flow of 
water in the streams that are drawn on for irrigation purposes is 
gradually being lessened, or it would perhaps be more correct to >ay 
that the flow of water is not available for irrigation at the time when 
most needed, due to the earlier melting of the snow uncovered and 
unprotected by the natural growths on the mountain sides. 

I base this opinion on correspondence in my possession with an 
ex-forest ranger; on conversations that I have had with miners and 
hunters who have been familiar with this region for years and who 
have carefully noted the effect that grazing has had on the vegetation, 
and on my own observation of the utter extermination of all vegeta- 
tion on all lands that have been grazed over, especially by sheep, 
whether it be in the mountains or in the valleys. 



14 WATERSHED OF THE RAINIER FOREST RESERVE, WASHINGTON. 

I firmly believe that the enormous agricultural interests of this sec- 
tion demand that the grazing- of stock on the forest reserves should be 
prohibited and that the permanency of these interests depends on such 
action. 

Yours, very truly. O. A. Fechter, 

MayoT of North Yohwici. 
Hon. George Turner, 

II iis/i/ /K/fmi . I >. ( '. 



North Yakima, May 29, 1902. 

Deak Sir: I am heartily in sympathy with your views of the graz- 
ing' question on the Rainier Forest Reserve, and can indorse and 
know to be true all the facts forwarded to you of this date by tin 1 
Yakima Husbandry and ( 'attic Association. I have lived in Yakima 
County for over thirty-live years, and have watched the country 
develop from almost a wilderness to a prosperous country of more 
than L5,000 people to-day, who depend wholly on irrigation. To 
make our farms productive we must have water, winch is unques- 
tionably becoming less every year from the effects of sheep grazing 
in huge herds on the reserve, which is the natural and only pro- 
tection to the watersheds of our water supply. Protect our waters 
properly, and we can build schoolhouses where to-day you see nothing 
but the sheep herder and his herd. By the denuding of the hills so 
the snow does not have the natural and proper protection to hold it 
until late in the season, when water is most needed for irrigation as it 
did before sheep were grazed in such herds as to ruin the countn by 
grazing and tramping the vegetation and grasses all off the mountains. 

From L868 until about 1890 we always had the highest waters in 
June and duly, but now for the last ten or twelve years, since sheep 
appeared at the heads of our streams in great herds, our highest waters 
come with the first warm weather in early summer. 

From the size <>!' the petitions forwarded to the Department by our 
association asking that slice]) be prohibited from the reserve you will 
know that sheep grazing has always been allowed under a very strong- 
protest by the farmers. Why should the east side of the mountain 
slope be ruined by slice}) grazing at the expense of a prosperous 
county when grazing is not allowed on the west slope where there i- 
more rain than what is beneficial? 
Yours, very respectfully, 



-James J. Wiley. 



Hon. ( SrEORGE TURNER, 

Wax7ihiqto?i, I>. f '. 



North Yakima. Wash.. May 27, 1902. 

Am a resident of Wenos Valley, in Yakima County. Wash. ; have 
lived there for thirty-one years; am a farmer. 

I knew the conditions of the mountains of Rainier Forest Reserve 
since L853, and am familiar with these mountains now. Before sheep 
grazed these mountains the hillsides and along the streams had a 
thick covering of native grasses, underbrush, and other vegetation, 



WATERSHED OF THE RAINIER FOREST RESERVE, WASHINGTON. 15 

and :it sources of the small tributaries of Tietan and Natchez rivers 
had a thick covering of grass, brush, weeds, moss, and other vegeta- 
tion, which held back the melting snow, thereby letting the water 
flow off gradually, which furnished an abundance of water during the 
irrigating season. These places now show the sad havoc of sheep 
grazing. 

Nothing left to hold back the snow, it comes down in early spring, 
causing floods, especially along the smaller streams. I have traveled 
over all of this reserve many times since 1867. Where formerly deer, 
goats, and birds were often met with, now there is no deer or goats to 
be seen, and the birds have about all disappeared. The fur-bearing 
animals no longer inhabit these mountains and streams. 

My observations are that the reserve is being fast destroyed. 
Thousands of seedling trees and covering of soil humus are being 
destroyed and tramped out by the roots. Bare hills and underbrush 
all gone is the sight that meets one's eyes while traveling over this 
reserve. No grass can scarcely be found for horse feed where one 
camps for night. 

In my opinion, if sheep are allowed to graze this reserve and con- 
tinue the destruction in comparison to what damage they have already 
done to the timber and water flow in last ten years, these streams will 
become useless for irrigation. 

David Longmire. 



1 came to Yakima County in L876 and located near i> miles west of 
North Yakima. About fourteen years ago I bought land on Cowiche 
Creek and have resided here continuously since. When I first came 
over here the water in the spring used to come out gradually as the 
weather got warm, but of late years the snow seems to all come out at 
once and wash out roads and bridges and do other mischief; and we 
have looked for the cause of the change in the waters, and have con- 
cluded the undergrowth on the mountains used to hold the snow, but 
since the sheep grazing has kept the undergrowth eat down and the 
mossy dates at the to)) of the little draws tramped and destroyed, the 
places where soil used to be porous and springy are now denuded of 
vegetation and packed as hard as a wagon road, so when a thaw comes 
it all comes down together, and. instead of being the life and source of 
all that is good, brings desolation and disappointment to those depend- 
ent on the snow water for their existence, and if it is allowed to con- 
tinue as at present there is only one outcome in store, and that is the 
same as has been the experience of the mountain districts of other 
countries where the growth was all destroyed and the valleys made 
uninhabitable from lack of water to irrigate in the hottest summer 
months. 

Thomas Fear. 



North Yakima, Wash., May Hi. 1902. 
1 have lived on my farm in this valley since 1876. I have been all 
this time a farmer and stockman. From 1876 up to L886-87 the con- 
ditions of the timber and brush thickets all over the mountains was 
good and the watershed was ample to protect the snow. There was a 
great abundance of grass and forage of all kinds all over the mountains. 



16 WATERSHED OF THE RAINIER FOREST RESERVE, WASHINGTON. 

The streams raised full during June and run full till sonic time in 
July, and we had plenty of water during the fall and winter. 

Since 1886-87 most of the timber has been burnt over and a great 
deal destroyed, and most of the brush on the small branches and 
springs is killed and the grass and all forage growth pretty well 
destroyed, which I consider has been done by sheepmen and over- 
stocking with sheep, and the watersheds are mainly destroyed. 

With plenty of water this country is and will he a very prosperous 
country, and without water to i frigate with it will be worthless. 

Since L888 the streams raise from 1st of March to 1st of May and 
run down during June and July. 

As a rule the sheepmen don't want to allow any grazing range to 
the farmers separately or apart from their grazing. 

J. F. McClure. 



Macklin, Wash.. May 17. 1902. 

Dear Sir: If I may be admitted to say a few words in relation to 
the forest reserve, 1 shall be favored. 

First. I have hunted for game. fur. and minerals in the Cascades 
from Snoqualmie Pass to Mount St. Helens for more than thirty years. 
In 1900 and 1901 I was a forest ranger in employ of Department of 
the Interior, and I think I know something of the region. Wherever 
slice]) have been in the mountains the verdure is gone, totally 
destroyed. Don't pooh, pooh ! Go and see. Cattle do great injury, 
but sheep destroy the vegetation. I have often talked with the herd- 
ers; they admit that it is so, " hut what is it to us; we work for wages.'" 
I know of numerous small streams that always were tine brooks until 
vegetation was destroyed by slice]) and fires that got started accident- 
ally (?) near sheep camps. Afterwards wind and sun carried away 
the water. No longer protected, the Mater courses are dry. 

1 know what I am talking about. The soil in the mountain region 
is light and shallow. Sheep pull up the grass; it die-, and the ground 
is left bare. Don't jump up and dispute with me because some friend 
of yours wants to feed stock in the reserve, or he won't vote for a 
certain man, and he has a "pull," but go up there, ride around far 
and wide, eyes open, and see how much I have misrepresented the 
matter. 

A. P. ('auk. 

Hon. ( ). A. Fechter, 

North } akin id. 



Ahtanum, Washington, May 17. 1902. 

I have lived in this valley since 1879; have farmed and raised stock 
all the time. Am well acquainted all over this country, mountains 
and valleys. 

From 1879 up to 1887 there was plenty of large bodies of timber. 
pole groves, and brush all over the mountains to protect the snow, 
and the snow laid in many huge bodies till late in summer, and the 
springs never went dry during those years and the grass and all kinds 
of forage was in great plenty all over the mountain country. 



WATERSHED OF THE RAINIER FOREST RESERVE, WASHINGTON. 17 

About this time the sheep began to come in great numbers and the 
grass began to diminish and tires in the mountains began to be more 
frequent, so that where there was a great many groves and brush 
thickets that we couldn't ride through at that time, have disappeared 
by lire since, and the grass and all kinds of forage has diminished every 
year until now there is but very little grass and the growth in spring 
is weeds of different kinds. 

Large bands of sheep going to and from their bedding ground and 
grazing ground kill all the small line and other kinds of trees by 
tramping them. It lias been said that we had numerous showers and 
rains to renew the grass all summer on the eastern slope of the 
mountains in this county, which is not true, except in late fall, Sep- 
tember and October, which is too late for much benefit of grazing. 

From 1879 to 1888 or L889 the streams generally raised till they 
were bank full during dune, and begin to run down in duly and August, 
and since that time they have diminished very greatly and they raise 
to their highest, but not near so high, earlier in the season and run down 
much earlier, and all the Yakima country is dependent upon the amount 
of water necessary to irrigate it to make it one of the best and richest 
valleys in the Tinted States, and every individual of Yakima's popu- 
lation is dependent upon the agricultural possibilities of the country. 
and its productiveness is measured by the amount of water that its 
streams afford. 

W. G. Griffeth. 



Ahtanum, Wash., May 17, 1902. 

1 have lived in this valley twenty-four years; have always been a 
farmer and stock raiser: am well acquainted with the conditions of 
this country. 

From 1878 up to 1888-89, the timber, pole groves, and underbrush 
were all growing and in a nourishing condition, and no burns of any 
note. The grass and all forage growth were in the best of condition, 
and the watersheds protected the snow so well that large bodies of 
snow would lay till fall season. 

Since 1889 the timber has been mostly burnt out, and about all the 
pole groves and brush has been killed, and the grass and all forage has 
been killed and tramped so much that snow don't lay on late in sum- 
mer, and the ground don't hold the water and the springs go dry 
early in summer. 

From 1878 up to 1889 the water streams begin to get full and would 
get to top of banks and go down medium or low in last of July or 
August. Since 1889 the streams raise in March, April, or May. 
owing to the cold or warm weather in spring, and never get as full as 
they used to get, and in July about all the water has run out; and the 
summers of 1889 and L891 the creeks went dry in the middle of sum- 
mer, and the watersheds are about destroyed. 

My opinion is that the large sheep owners are the ones that do the 
most damage and won't divide range justly with the farmers. But 
water to irrigate with is of first importance to every person here. 

E. J. Hackett. 

S. Doc. 403 2 



18 WATERSHED OF THE RAINIER FOREST RESERVE, WASHINGTON. 

Ahtanum, Wash., May 17. 1902. 

I have been a fanner in this valley thirty-one years. I am dairy- 
ing and stock raising at this time. Have been acquainted all over 
this country. From 1871 up to L887 or 1888. the mountains in this 
county were covered with large bodies of timber, groves of poles and 
brush, all in a growing condition, and there was endless quantities of 
grass and forage of all kinds. Hundreds of springs that run water all 
summer,. The snow laid in those timber groves till August, and the 
creeks generally raised to bank full in June and begin to run lower 
in July, and there was plenty of water all fall and winter. 

Since 1887-88 the large bodies of timber have mostly been burned out 
and the pole groves and brush have been killed by burning or tramp- 
ing with sheep herding. Most of the springs go dry in August or 
September and the snow goes off of the watersheds of the creek by 
the middle or last of June, where it nsrd to lav until August. The 
creeks rise to their highest between March and May and do not get as 
high as they use to get. and run low in dune and July. Some seasons 
they go dry in the valleys, and we have a great deal of sickness. 

I have noticed large tracts where the young timber sprouts were 
killed by sheep tramping over them. About all the mountain country 
is tramped over by sheep. 

( attic belonging to the farmers in this county are assessed for 
$27,000 more than the sheep and Mr. Sheller don't allow the farmers 
one-fifth the area for grazing, that he does to sheep men, and none at 
all to the farmers of Ahtanum except in common with the sheep, which 
is equivalent to nothing, and threatened to sell cattle that wander off 
the district allotted to them and went on the forest reserve, where we 
have always used the range foi thirty years. The large sheep men are 
never willing to divide range with any part of justice, but seem to want 
to devour and destroy everything and move on to the next victim. 
The sheepmen say they are going to shave the farmer- just as close as 
they can. With plenty of water to irrigate all the land tributary to 
Yakima Valley, it can support 1,000,000 population in good shape, but 
without irrigation it is a total failure, except a few flats close to the 
creeks, and when the creeks go dry they fail. 

J. P. Marks. 



Ahtanum, May W. 1903. 

I have been a resident of Yakima County for the last twenty-two 
years; my occupation is a farmer and stock raiser. 

The conditions of the water vary from year to year on account of 
the different falls of snow in the mountain-. We look for high water 
about June or July and low water about August. 

In about 1880 the conditions of the mountains were mostly covered 
with growing timber and tall grass. At the present time a great deal 
of the mountains are covered with dead timber, especially the thick 
i imber belts. 

[f you would go into the mountains in the fall of the year, your eyes 
would behold dead timber and sheep trails. 1 have seen the dust 
arising from eight or ten bands of sheep at one time in the fall when 
the herders were moving them to the bed grounds. 1 think that sheep 
grazing is very injurious to the timber, all grass, and also to the water- 
sheds of this valley and others located likewise. 



WATERSHED OF THE RAINIER FOREST RESERVE, WASHINGTON. 1 ( .> 

In regard to my opinions of the majority of sheep men. they cure 
nothing for the rights of others just so long as they get the grass. 

There is a great deal more that might be said, hut I will stop for 
this time. 

Sterling P. Vivian. 
Ahta n a in . Yakima County. Wash. 



Ahtanum, Wash.. May 17. 

I have lived in this valley thirty-four years; am a farmer, dairyman, 
and stockman. I am well acquainted all over this county, mountains 
and valleys. 

From 1868 up to 1887 or L888 there were mam large bodies of lino 
timber, pole groves, and brush ail through the mountains in a flour- 
ishing and growing condition, and the grass was tine everywhere, and 
the watersheds protected the snow till duly or 1st of August. The 
streams would generally raise to top of the banks in dune and begin 
to run down in July, and we had a good supply of water all the fall 
and winter. 

Since 1887 or 1888 to the present time the largest part of the tim- 
ber, pole groves, and brush has been burnt and killed and the brush 
tramped out by sheep herding over it: and the grass and all kinds of 
forage is gone or tramped out where sheep have been herded; and the 
water streams raise from March to May. and one-third or one-half 
full, and begin to run low in three or four weeks. 

It is absolutely necessary to have water to irrigate this country to 
make it prosperous, and without it the country is worthless. In early 
years there were lots of deer and plenty of wild fowls, and since 1890 
they are scarce or none at all. 

Matt Stanton. 



North Yakima. Wash.. May 16, 1902. 

1 have lived on my farm in this valley since 1871. Am a farmer, 
dairyman, and stock raiser. From the time I came here up to 1886or 
1887 the timber and brush groves were all in a good growing condition 
on the mountains and all the branches and the grass and forage plants 
were abundant everywhere. There was plenty of timber to shelter 
and shade the snow on (he watersheds. From 1871 to 1886 or 1887, 
the water streams were full every year and commenced running full the 
last of May or first of dune and commenced running down in the last 
of duly and first of August. Since 188(5 or LS87 the streams never get 
so high as they did before, and the rise comes a great deal earlier in 
spring and don't last so long. 

Since 1886 at least one-half of the timber has been burned, and nearly 
all the brush groves and thickets on the branches and around the 
springs are dead, and the grass and forage plants are about all gone and 
killed out. The watersheds are badly injured. 

With plenty of water to irrigate with this is a very prosperous 
country, and without it we can't farm and make a living. 

d. 11. Armstrong. 



20 WATERSHED OF THE RAINIER FOREST RESERVE, WASHINGTON. 

Ahtanum, Wash.. May 16, 1902. 

I have lived on my farm in this valley thirty-live years. I am a 
farmer, dairyman, and cattle raiser: am well acquainted with the whole 
county of Yakima. 

From L867 to 1886 or 1887, the water streams always raised full the 
last part of May and in dune and commenced running low about the 
loth or L5th of July, and were always full every year. 

Since L886 and 1887 they rise much earlier in the spring and never 
g*et so full, and run low in a shorter period of time and gradually 
decrease from year to year. 

When 1 first came here, and for seventeen year.- after, there were 
large bodies of timber all through the mountains and lots of shrub- 
bery and brush groves on all the streams and branches and abundance 
of all kinds of grass and forage plants. 

From 1886 and L887 to L892 the large bodies of timber were nearly 
all burned out and the brush groves and shrubbery were mostly dead 
and the grass and forage plants were failing very materially, and our 
watersheds are in a poor condition. 

It is absolutely necessary to have water to irrigate if this country 
prospers; without it the country would be worthless. 

I). 1 1 EATON. 



Ahtanum, Wash.. May 17, 1902. 

1 have lived on a farm in this valley ever since 1868. 1 am a farmer. 
dairyman, and stock raiser. 

From L868 up to L886 or 1887 there was large quantities of large 
timber and pole groves and brush in a growing and flourishing con- 
dition all over the mountains, and great quantities of grass, all kinds 
of forage in abundance everywhere, and the watershed was ample to 
protect the -now so it did not melt off until duly and first part of 
August. 

Since L886 and 1887 large bodies of the timber has been burnt and 
most of the voung timber and brush has been killed and the grass and 
forage has disappeared and tramped to a dust heap by herding sheep 
over it. Prior to 1886 and L8S7 the water streams usually ran bank 
full in dune and began to run down in duly and there was plenty of 
walei- the latter pari of summer, and since that time the streams raise 
from March to 1st of May and never get as full as they did before. 
and run low the last of June and thr< >ugh d uly. and the shed is in a bad 
condition and don "t protect the snow. Sheep herding over the moun- 
tains kills all the young timber that starts to grow. 

There was lot of deer and plenty of grouse and fool hen- and other 
game birds prior to 1887 and ISSN, but now there i- no deer and but 
very few grouse and other birds. 

II. E. Crosno. 



North Yakima, Wash.. May 16, 1902. 
In regard to the preservation of the forest reserve and the resultant 
protection of the watershed for the benefit of irrigation, would say I 
have been a resident of this valley since the fall of l s s:;-. have been 
familiar with conditions in both mountain and valley during that time, 
making numerous trips in the Cascade Range from near Mount Adams 
to head of Cle-Elum River. 



WATERSHED OF THE RAINIER FOREST RESERVE. WASHINGTON. 2 1 

From 1884 to L888 and 1889 there were large tracts of timber and 
dense thickets of underbrush that shaded, held, and protected the snow 
until hot weather of midsummer, thus keeping the water hack until it 
was needed for irrigation of crops in the valley. In the summer of 
L888 and also in 1889 large bands of sheep were driven in from 
Oregon. Soon tires started in all parts of the mountains and con- 
tinued year after year so long as there was anything left that tire 
would burn. What the tires 'did not destroy the 300,000 head of 
sheep that have pastured in the Cascades every season from April to 
( >ctober did. 

The results in the valleys are high water the first few warm day- of 
spring, when hut little irrigation is needed, with great scarcity in the 
hot months of July and August, at a time when our crops require the 
most water. 

At the time the Rainier was set aside a- a reserve we were told by 
the " wise "" men in Washington that forest preservation was the object 
sought. The direct opposite has been the result, as every old settler 
knows. 

Why does our Government spend thousand- of dollars in the Eastern 
States teaching the people the great benefits of forests, while here in 
the West a few men are permitted to destroy the forests at will? 

The future prosperity of the Yakima Valley depends on the water 
supply. With water, a garden spot; without water, a sage desert. 

II. D. Winchester. 



Ahtanum, Wash., May in. 1902. 

We are farmers and were raised on a farm in this valley. We are 
28 and 32 years old. respectively, and are well acquainted with condi- 
tions in the mountains for the past eighteen year-. 

A man can ride for miles now over country that was almost impassi- 
ble fifteen to eighteen years ago. It lias I. ecu a well-known policy of 
sheepmen to fire large bodies of timber to make roadways, thereby 
destroying thousands of acre- of valuable timber as well as small brush 
that would protect the snow on our watersheds. As a result of allow- 
ing large hands of sheep to have full swing in our forests, springs that 
once ran all summer are dry by the 15th of July. The hillsides that 
were once covered thick with grass and brush are bare and dusty. 
The watersheds are literally plowed and harrowed by these hoofed 
locusts until hardly a spear of grass or young shrub is left. 

The snow is unprotected from the first warm days, and ail melts at 
once and conies down in a rush and is all gone by the Loth of July, 
when the farmers need it the worst. Still, in the face of all these 
conditions, the sheepmen tell us the sheep are an advantage to the 
country. 

The -mall farmers along the borders of the range are eaten out of 
house and home by these migratory band- of sheep. They eat out 
every corner, and in most cases part of their fields. 

In our opinion every pound of wool that has been produced in the 
State of Washington has cost the State %\ in timber burned and water- 
shed destroy I'd. 

Yours, respectfully. K. 1'). Marks, 

('has. A. Marks. 

O 



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Branch Bindery, 1903 



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